They bring you the news so you don't have to get it yourself.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a 2004 comedy film directed by Adam McKay, written by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, produced by Apatow Pictures, and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The film stars Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate. It was not nominated for any Academy Awards. A sequel, titled Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues was released in 2013. A companion film, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, was also released direct-to-video that same year.
"I ate a big red candle." -Brick Tamland
Plot
It is the 1970s, and local anchorman Ron Burgundy is the most famous person in San Diego. He is loved by everyone...until a young woman named Veronica Corningstone enters the picture. At first, Ron and his buddies try to charm her. When she rejects them, Ron Burgundy must accept her as a part of the news team. The events that follow are hilarious and catastrophic, as Ron Burgundy learns what it takes to be the anchorman.
Positive Aspects
This is the funniest movie that I have ever seen. Airplane!, Dumb and Dumber, and The Naked Gun are all close candidates, but this movie is absolutely hysterical.
The acting in this film is phenomenal. Will Ferrell is obviously the highlight and leader of the cast. He is, as always, just stupidly funny. This is the legend of comedy in full swing, and he takes this ridiculous character to new heights. Paul Rudd is great, too. The highlight of his performance is the sex panther part. That was incredibly funny.
Every single word that comes out of Steve Carell's mouth in this film evokes a laugh. He is one of the most consistently funny characters that I've ever seen in a movie. Nothing he says makes any sense, and, for some reason, it is so funny. He delivers every line with this straight face and monotonous voice that is so hilarious.
Christina Applegate plays Veronica Corningstone pretty well. She doesn't really have many funny moments, but she is very proper and technical. She has great chemistry with Will Ferrell. She has a lot of memorable moments, and she does a good job of reacting to all of the idiotic stuff that the other characters do.
The writing for this movie is absolutely genius. I haven't seen the script, but I'm sure that at least some of the jokes were scripted. The stuff that these characters say is so stupid and ridiculous. No human being on this earth would ever say anything even close to what Ron Burgundy says and does, and it makes the lines that every character says make you crack up. This is the only movie that I have fallen onto the floor laughing about.
The story of the film is relatively simple, but it actually speaks out to a lot of audiences. It really has a strong message for young women, even though the movie can be conceived as somewhat rude to women at certain points.
This movie is not very structured. It is so funny that what's going on really makes no sense, so if you want to watch a heartfelt but funny movie, don't watch Anchorman. There aren't really any deep or emotionally resonant moments, and if it seems like there will be, they undercut it with a stupid one-liner or a quick quip. In most movies that kind of idea and structure doesn't work well, even if the movie is funny. But, for some reason, it feels right with Anchorman, because they've built a world that is so dumb and crazy.
They make all the funny parts in this movie memorable. There's a lot of stuff in Dumb and Dumber and The Naked Gun that are funny, but they aren't memorable. I can quote this movie over and over and over and it'll never get old. Everything that Burgundy says just sticks into your mind like it's superglued. This is one of the most quotable and memorable movies that I have ever seen.
Finally, you can't talk about Anchorman without talking about the news team fight scene. That was literally the most exciting moment that I have had watching a movie since I watched the portal sequence in Endgame and the final battle in Rise of Skywalker. It was definitely a different kind of excitement, but those cameos and the fire stunt and Brick killing somebody make one of the funniest scenes in cinema history.
Negative Aspects
The first thing is that the plot can be taken as somewhat offensive. I have never loved offensive humor, which is why I haven't seen movies like Borat, and Anchorman can portray women in a manor that is stupid or dumb or subservient to men. I'm not a fan of any kind of discrimination, and the way that they show off most of the women for most of the film is offensive. And I am a guy saying this.
Secondly, Fred Willard is not that good. His lines are funny and they make you laugh, but he just is clearly taking this movie too seriously. He always has a not so great performance in all of his movies, but there are a couple of lines that come off as off-key or wrong. He isn't enthusiastic enough, and even when he tries to be, it just feels forced and cringy.
I also don't like David Koechner. Never have and never will. He always has to be the crazy douche that is super annoying and makes all the inappropriate jokes that feel too stupid and immature. He does it in The Office and in Get Smart, and it is really unfortunate that he did the same thing in Anchorman.
Lastly, some of the jokes do not land. 90% of them do, but the ones that don't feel disappointing and a lame attempt at humor in a movie full of the dumbest things that are clever in their own way and make a laugh croak out of your throat. There is stuff that can feel like it should be funny, but the delivery or execution of the joke is bad.
Final Score
Despite an offensive plot, some failed jokes, and a couple of bad actors, Anchorman succeeds with hilarious jokes and great leads.
I will give it a Sweet rating. Age range is 12+.
SWEET N' SOUR SCALE
Sweet (Great) Savory (Good)
Sour (Bad) Moldy (Terrible)
"Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"
Fun Factor: 10/10
Acting: 7/10
Characters: 9/10
Story: 6/10
Quality: 8.5/10
Directed by Adam McKay
Released on July 9, 2004
Rated PG-13 for language, sexual content, and smoking
1 hour and 34 minutes
Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy
Christina Applegate as Veronica Corningstone
Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana
Steve Carrell as Brick Tamland
David Koechner as Champ Kind
Fred Willard as Ed Harken
Chris Parnell as Garth Holliday